GRIDSERVE Electric Vehicle Charging Forecourt – Norwich

GRIDSERVE

Norwich

Bowman Riley designed the UK’s second electric car service station in Norwich for GRIDSERVE, a British start-up provider of hybrid solar solutions for power infrastructure.

Following the opening of their large flagship site in Braintree, Essex, the new GRIDSERVE Norwich forms part of their plans to create 100 electric vehicle forecourts across the UK by 2030. Located at a business park on the outskirts of Norwich, the station was designed to double the number of high-power public charge points in the city, which had one of the worst regional charging infrastructures in the country and below-average levels of electric vehicle ownership.

Our brief was to offer the equivalent charging, refreshment and relaxation facilities of the Braintree site on a much smaller footprint. To achieve this, we created the first Compact Electric Forecourt by locating the charging points underneath the first floor of the two-storey building and lifting the customer facilities onto the first-floor level.

Despite the smaller footprint, Norwich offers the same number of chargers as the Essex site including specific provisions for disabled customers. We designed a modern structure that instantly catches the eye, with contemporary architectural features raised above the backdrop of the busy dual carriageway and surrounding rural landscape. The first floor provides a customer lounge with views over the landscape and a relaxing space to check emails or hold a meeting in one of the office pods. The retail offer is provided by Marks & Spencer and WH Smith with a Costa Coffee café.

Powering the chargers and the building is 100 percent renewable energy with energy generated from GRIDSERVE’s solar farms and an array of panels installed on the building’s roof. This will reduce strain on the grid and result in cheaper electricity.  We are working with GRIDSERVE to reinvent their forecourt concept as a third smaller variation for future projects in urban areas.

See our other GRIDSERVE project in Braintree.